Focuses on the life and writings of C.S. Lewis. Mostly via interviews with authors of books about him. Sometimes short talks.

30Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Another "Screwtape" feature. This one is not an interview, but a short talk.

Various editions of The Screwtape Letters was released over the years during the month of February. In light of that an encore of a previous podcast related to Screwtape is posted today. Back in 2012 Brenton Dickieson was one of several individuals who read a paper at the 2012 C.S. Lewis Colloquium at Taylor University. For his presentation he read the highlights of "The Pedagogical Value of The Screwtape Letters for a New Generation" (see link below to read the complete paper). He also shared a Prezi presentation during the talk (that you can watch by following the link below).

28Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: This is not a perfect collection and it is pricey, but, if you want a single place to have electronic copies of many books by Lewis then this is very useful.

There have been eBook versions of various book by C.S. Lewis for some time. However, unless you were a computer wiz there wasn't an easy way to search multiple books by Lewis. However, soon that will all change. William O'Flaherty recently spoke with Joel Muddamalle from Logos Bible Software about a 30 book collection of works by Lewis that is scheduled to release by the first week of March, 2015. Before it releases you can save over $100 off the regular list price. Learn more about this collection and what you can do with it either on its own or with Logos Bible Software.

25Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Interview with Wayne Martindale.about Beyond the Shadowlands

If you spoke with ten people about the topic of Heaven and Hell you were likely get more than a dozen viewpoints! C.S. Lewis wrote a lot on the issue through-out his nonfiction and fictional works. In Beyond the Shadowlands, Dr. Wayne Martindale details Lewis's views on the subject in an easy to read format. Dr. Martindale is a professor of English at Wheaton College, Illinois and was also involved in The Quotable Lewis and The Soul of C.S. Lewis.

22Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Three years ago (2014) this special edition of The Pilgrim's Regress was published.

C.S. Lewis's first Christian book has been a difficult read for most individuals, however a newly released edition makes it easier to understand. Dr. David Downing is the editor of The Pilgrim's Regress: Wade Annotated Edition. William O'Flaherty spoke with Dr. Downing recently about how he became involved in the project, along with what types of helps he provides in this version of the 1933 volume. Previously Dr. Downing has been on the show to discuss his books The Most Reluctant Convert and Looking for the King (see below for links).

18Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Here's a reminder of my occasional essay chat series with this re-post of the first one I did with Dr. Holly Ordway. Many people overlook the fact that Lewis work many shorter works. These essays cover a range of topics.

The following is a repeat of the debut series I've simply called an "essay chat." For those not familiar with it, the purpose of this program is to focus on a single essay (or similar shorter work) by C.S. Lewis and discuss it with another Lewis expert or enthusiast. This first one was done with Dr. Holly Ordway on the essay "Sometimes Fairy Stories Say Best What's to be Said."

16Nov

IN THIS REPEAT:: More from Dr. Don King. This time it's on The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis.

Some Lewis readers are unaware that he wrote poetry (or at best are uninterested in it). Dr. Don King, editor of The Collected Poems of C.S. Lewis: A Critical Edition, believes such individuals are missing out on not only gaining a better understanding of the author, but they are also depriving themselves of some great writings. William O'Flaherty spoke with him about the scope of this new book (scheduled to released January 7, 2015) that brings together nearly all of the poetry of C.S. Lewis.

14Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Dr. Don King, a specialist in the poetry of C.S. Lewis, shares about a book that collects various material he wrote over the years on Lewis.

In 2013 Dr. Don King released a book called Plain to the Inward Eye. The book is a collection of essays and William O'Flaherty discusses a variety of the content that includes many book reviews. Additionally, Dr. King shares his thoughts (not included in the book) about the Dr. McGrath's biography on Lewis, forthcoming material about Joy Davidman and his six most enjoyed essays by Lewis..

13Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Before Bandersnatch, Dr. Glyer wrote this landmark book, The Company They Keep.

Dr. Diana Glyer is a professor of English at Azusa Pacific University.When her The Company They Keep came out several years ago it was instantly recognized as a great work on the Inklings. Listen as William O'Flaherty spoke with her about this landmark book in an interview from 2012 before she was one of the guest at a retreat by the C.S. Lewis Foundation. Because that retreat is over comments about it was removed (but there is a link below to learn about any new events they have).

11Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: My my recent interview with Andrew Lazo about his project on TILL WE HAVE FACES.

Even those who enjoy the wide variety of books by C.S. Lewis are sometimes confused when they get to his last published novel, Till We Have Faces. What was he trying to do with the retelling of the story of Cupid and Psyche? How could he completely turn from writing material for Christians to release such a strange tale? Why did consider it his best book? Inklings scholar Andrew Lazo has been studying Till We Have Faces for many years and believes he can help both those who enjoy the book and those who are puzzled by it. This podcast interview details a new lecture series for late 2017 and early 2018 that will be a book in the near future. Learn a few of the insights Lazo has made and how he might be coming to a city near you to speak on the topic.

10Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: There are a lot of biographies on Tolkien. Back in 2014 I shared about a SHORT one that is written by Dr. Devin Brown, author of several popular book on Narnia and Middle Earth.

Dr. Devin Brown is back with another book about C.S. Lewis's (more famous) friend, J.R.R. Tolkien. This one is a brief biography simply called Tolkien. At the time I'm releasing this podcast, the final part of the movie version of The Hobbit will be out in a few weeks. Learn, or be reminded of, the interesting story of how Tolkien went from being "an obscure Oxford Professor" to "become the most beloved author of the century."

9Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: an interview about a book from Will Vaus that is the first of three looking at the top ten books that influenced C.S. Lewis.

What made C.S. Lewis such a great writer? One major factor is that he was a great reader. So, what did Lewis read? That's the driving force behind a new book by Will Vaus entitled C.S. Lewis' Top Ten, Volume One. In this podcast interview with William O'Flaherty, Vaus shares about this first of three books that examine the topic. This initial volume explores three of titles and authors that influenced him most: George MacDonald, Chesterton and Virgil. Vaus explores Lewis' overall reading of each author, their life and a synopsis of the book identified by Lewis the most influential.

7Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: An interview from 2014 about a book entitled The Romantic Rationalist.

In 2013 there were several conferences held about the life and work of C.S. Lewis. One was from Dr. John Piper's ministry and the keynote messages have been collected in a book. David Mathis, one of the editors of The Romantic Rationalist: God, Life and Imagination in the Work of C.S. Lewis is on this program to talk about the revised essays and additional content found in the book.

4Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Dr. Holly Ordway was an atheist who came to believe in Christianity. Here's a repeat of her story from my chat with her in 2014

In late 2011 I spoke with Dr. Holly Ordway about Not God's Type (which first came out in 2010). A new edition was just release (2014) that elaborates further on her conversion from atheism and further developments since becoming a Christian. Hers is a fascinating story that will be interesting to all. Learn how the writings of C.S. Lewis prepared her in many ways to come to faith and then grow as a believer.

2Nov

IN THIS REPEAT: Back in 2013 there was a special event in England to honor the 50th anniversary of the death of C.S. Lewis.

On my Resource Spotlight section at EssentialCSLewis.com I recently highlighted three videos from the C.S. Lewis Symposium that were filmed last year and just uploaded to YouTube. I had the chance to speak with Peter Byrom from Christian Evidence about these videos. Peter did the editing of them and gives a short summary of each, along with other details related to the videos. These three videos features a lecture by Dr. Alister McGrath, Dr. Malcolm Guite and panel discussion lead by Dr. Michael Ward.